Protection to Affection
by Mable
Summary: When his twin is in danger, 4 puts himself in danger to protect him, and 3 decides, in return, to comfort his brother in what ways he knows how. 3x4, rod/cyl, Request fic.


**Mable: Here we are with a request for Kira akashi 18; I'm sorry about the time this one took and I hope that you still enjoy it! I tried to fit in all that you wanted. ^-^ I don't own 9, Enjoy!**

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 _ **Protection to Affection**_

The Emptiness was still a dangerous place after the Machine's defeat. Beasts still roamed the empty streets and waited for Stitchpunks to slip so they could attack. This was why travelling together to scout was so vital. That being said, being in a group tended to give the Stitchpunks an inappropriate sense of safety. First off, Seven decided to hurry ahead and scout out the next road, leaving the remaining four alone. Then Five and Nine became distracted looking over a bolt, or more obviously, got distracted making light flirtations at each other.

This left the twin Stitchpunks, Three and Four, free to wander inside of a nearby grocery store without any worry. They assumed that the others were nearby, so they were probably safe. The twins were mostly distracted in looking for can goods and bags of dried supplies; food that would've survived past the war and the years following it. Until now, they only managed to occasionally find some cocoa powder or the occasional sealed war meal, but this grocery store opened a new opportunity for them to pick and choose.

Most of the roof had caved in towards the back of the store, leaving a good portion of it inaccessible, and unfortunately dividing the remaining bit into two sections. One section was darker, shadowed under the remaining bit of roof, while the other was illuminated in the light pouring through the broken ceiling.

" _Maybe I should go ahead,"_ Four asked his twin curiously as he looked between both sides of the store. " _I could go check and make sure there aren't any beasts waiting for us."_

Three's optics widened and he tensely clasped his hands together. It was very Five-like; Four was under the impression that his twin had acquired this from Five. " _I don't know if we should do that…"_ The thought of being left behind, away from his close brother, frightened him incredibly. Three was fine wandering away from Five and Nine, but that didn't mean he wanted to leave his twin's side. Desperately, he reached out to take Four's hand. _"We should just go in together."_

" _It will just be a minute,"_ Four reassured as he patted his twin's hand. He then turned and headed into the shadowed section of the grocery store. His optics illuminated to lighten his was as he headed down the remaining isle that was standing. It was obvious that something had been here in the recent future. A few cans were cut open and only remnants of their content remained. Though these little bits smelled foul from being left out. Whatever opened these cans hadn't done it very recently.

The closer Four made it to the back, the emptier cans and torn burlap sacks he found. It was obvious that something had been hiding out here. While this should've been a sign that they needed to turn back, Four couldn't help but keep forward, and he watched as he approached some sort of nest tucked into an overturned box. The inside was filled with cotton fluff, cloth scraps, and newspaper pieces, but whatever made the home was not present. Four climbed into the bed and began to look around curiously.

From what he could tell, it appeared to be a rat's nest. Or some sort of animal that was close to a rat. This was a curious suggestion. Though Four's curiosity was short lived as he noticed something wet and sticky on the bottom of the box. He quickly pushed some of the bedding aside to reveal what it was, and immediately his body was filled with panic. The black substance was clearly oil and was certainly the sign of this being a beast nest instead of an animal one. With panic in his mind, Four scrambled and began to run back towards his twin.

Right as he was about to step out of the shadows and into the light, Four was struck by a horrific sight.

It almost had a body like a Cat Beast. Though it was primarily bipedal and at the end of its arms were long, narrow drills. It was smaller than a Cat Beast by far, but was still rather girthy, heavy, and carrying a skull on its head. It looked to be some sort of rodent by appearance, even though the skull seemed too big to fill this niche. Four remembered Seven mentioning a beast like this long ago; she had referred to it as a 'Rat Stalker', though maybe its rat appearance made him piece this beast to that one.

It was currently eyeing down what looked like another empty can at first glance. Though once the Rat Stalker randomly stabbed down into the top of it, and Four noticed his sibling was gone, he realized that his twin was probably hiding in the can. He briefly heard the clicking from the other Stitchpunks' rapid 'whispering' and knew he was in trouble. It was a small can so Three didn't have room to hide from the Beasts' fury. Even now it was trying to bring its drill back out so that it could stab in once again.

Four scrambled to look around for a possible escape, for a way to call the others or something, but nothing came to mind. There was only one risky option that immediately opened itself, and it relied on the hope that the Rat Stalker hadn't noticed there were two of them.

Inside the can, Three trembled and huddled in, attempting to hide from the seeking drill. He watched as it slowly slid out of the metal can, causing it to rock unsteadily. Then the beast let out a shrieking noise, more akin to a machine than any sort of rodent, and took a few heavy footsteps away. Confusion filled Three, but he stayed quiet and hidden, listening to see if the beast was leaving. Its thumping footsteps moved further away, growing rapidly quicker, and then a second set appeared as well. Though these were quicker and lighter.

" _Four?!"_ Three suddenly realized in panic. He pushed the can and rolled it until he could see out of the hole in the top. There was Four, trying to lure the beast off into the shadowed part of the shop. His optics flickered with light and he wave his arms dramatically. Every time the beast would charge him, he would dip out of the way. _"Four!"_ Three inwardly gasped as Four dodged a final time before sprinting back into the shop. The Rat Beast took pursuit. _"Oh no…"_

Three pattered out of the can and his optics flickered desperately, trying to somehow lure the beast back, but it was already too far gone. To his immediate relief, however, there were more footsteps as Nine and Five rushed into the store.

"What happened?!" Five asked in alarm and Three frantically pointed after the beast. Nine didn't need to be told twice as he promptly sped after the beast and the twin. Five looked back to Three, "Wait here, we'll get him!" He then turned and started after Nine. A few seconds later, Three dashed after the others, unwilling to sit behind as his twin was in danger.

Four knew he couldn't outrun the beast forever. He quickly stopped flickering and dove onto a bottom shelf. He hid behind an old, soggy box and waited for what to come. The Rat Stalker's footsteps came closer as Four tried to huddled down. Red light was thrown over the shadowed area, but it was dim. That being said, the twin had no doubt that the beast probably could see in the dark.

Before he could even react, the beast approached the other side of the box and shoved it to the side. Four looked back in a panic before the Rat Stalker's drill swung at him and knocked him in the middle. He was thrown to the floor a few feet away, landing heavily and sore on the hard ground. The beast dogged him and even before he had a chance to stand it was stabbing its drill at him. He managed to move his body back in time, but some of the fabric on his leg was torn in the process. Yet he had no voice to cry out with.

The Beast yanked back its drill and aimed both down at the Stitchpunk, preparing to strike once more. Its attack was prematurely halted when a pale form suddenly landed on its back. The Rat shrieked and began to turn in place, trying to struggle with the form clinging to it. Four recognized it as Seven and felt immediate relief in seeing her. This only intensified when he could see Nine and Five appear. Though it immediately dissipated once he saw Three.

He waved Three back, worried about the beast turning on his twin, but Three was determined and made a long loop out of the beast's range. He got to his twin's side quickly and held onto him, trying to pull him away. They didn't get a chance to escape before the battle suddenly shifted. Outnumbered and not expecting the aggression, the Rat Stalker made a surprising decision; it knocked Seven off and turned to flee. The female briefly followed in pursuit to make sure it wasn't planning to return or sneak in another way.

Five immediately turned his attention towards the downed twin. He rushed over and crouched down beside the smaller. "That's a nasty tear. I can stitch it, but- we need to get you home," Five quickly accessed as he put an arm under the scholar's back. Four was in obvious pain as he sat upwards and Three clung to his other side in an attempt to help.

" _I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!"_ Three pleaded as he nuzzled into his twin's hood. Four responded by pressing his head back, but was too pained to speak. This was his first time with an injury like this and he was clearly struggling with it. Thankfully, they began to move the smaller Stitchpunk back to the Sanctuary.

Four had to be accessed and stitched once in the workshop. The entire time, Three sat nearby, watching with despair on his optics. It hurt him to see his twin in such a state, and it only hurt more knowing that it had partially been his fault for him getting hurt. Thankfully, Four was stitched quickly and was put on immediate bedrest by Two and Five. They then left the workshop after leaving on only a single, dim candle, and after telling Three that his twin would be fine if he got rest. The moment they were gone, Three rushed to Four's bedside.

He pushed past the curtain that framed the bed and collapsed on his twin, resting his head on his chest and beginning his round of pleading once again. Four was shocked and tried to lift him. _"Three, no, stop. It's okay, it's not your fault,"_ he tried to convince. He finally pulled Three onto his knees in a crouch on the bed. He could see his twin shiver and see his flickering optics, _"Please don't cry."_

" _You could've died!"_ Three pointed out before pulling into himself. He nervously tugged on his hood with one hand. _"I-I would've lost you… Because of me."_

" _You did nothing wrong,"_ Four firmly stated as he grabbed his twins' shoulders. _"I would do anything to keep you safe. I did what I had to. You being safe makes me know that what I did was right."_ He pulled Three in closer and wrapped his arms around his back. _"I love you too much to lose you."_

" _I-I love you too,"_ Three managed to force out. He was blushing so brightly that it nearly illuminated his hood. With desperation to hide this, he hid his face into his twin's shoulder. _"You scared me…"_

" _I'll be okay! You heard Two, I just need rest,"_ Four reassured with a smile. _"You'll stay with me, right?"_

" _Of course!"_ Three finally managed to muster the smallest of smiles. He climbed into the cot and eagerly slid underneath the covers with him. Almost immediately they began to huddle under the covers, clinging to each other. For the first couple of minutes it was as innocent as could be; Three had his arms wrapped tightly around Four's middle while Four began to pet and caress over his head, nudging his hood back to touch the hidden fabric underneath. It was warm and comforting, but it didn't last.

It didn't take too long before Four noticed that Three was starting to nuzzle more intently. The Stitchpunk's optics flickered in delight and he affectionately dragged his fingers down his twins' back. He pulled them tighter together, sighed, and continued to nuzzle and hug. His twin's behavior was almost suspect. " _Three?"_

Three looked up with all the adoration in his optics that he could muster.

" _Would you like to- I know you're probably tired and stressed from today…"_ Four bit down on his lip as he flickered. " _But would you like to…Do something else?"_

Three silently and sheepishly nodded in response. He only flickered again when Four took his lips.

A long time ago, Three and Four decided that siblinghood didn't matter when all the Stitchpunks were relatives. They never came out into the open about these feelings, but they had decided to explore their own feelings about each other in private. This had eventually led to them practicing ways of expressing how they felt. One of these ways was through physical mating. Considering that physical mating couldn't lead to any sort of pup or the like, there was no immediate threat except getting caught. Usually they would keep these rare activities to the safety of their library, but today was different.

Today they needed the reassurance, so there were no arguments. Being that Four couldn't move his leg too much, he coaxed them to both lay on their sides instead of the preferred method of him being on top. He held Three close before gently pressing their hips together. Three eagerly bucked back even though he had yet to show signs of true arousal.

" _Be patient, Love,"_ Four coaxed with an amused smile. _"I'll take care of you. I promise."_ Three's face glowed in a blush of green as he tried to slow down his eagerness. He shyly reached upwards to tug at his hood, but Four caught his hand. He gave it a loving squeeze before reaching to push his twin's hood back, so that he could see the rest of his face. He quickly pecked each of his cheeks before pressing their foreheads together. Then he moved his lower half to barely grind against his sibling. Three's optics flickered briefly, wanting more.

It wasn't too long before Three's part opened to his lover. Three was one of the Stitchpunks that had a cylinder, a female part, even though he was technically male. This phenomenon wasn't extremely surprising. The Scientist had foreseen that having eight males and one female would lead to trouble, and thus made more possibilities for the Stitchpunks to mate, unknowing whether soul bonding would work alone to create a new life. Thus, Three and Four got extremely lucky to not be identical in this aspect, as it made everything much easier.

Three still managed to get shy every time his cylinder appeared. Even though they had done this before, Three was always so self-conscious about himself, and Four found it both endearing and a shame. By now, his own object was appearing as well; his rod pressing on the inside of his fabric. He went to pull back, lightly wincing at the tension on his leg fabric, and started to open his front. He was quickly stopped by Three, who noticed his discomfort and started to open the twin's front himself, freeing his rod before he wrapped his arms around his lover's back.

Overeager, the twins decided to not press their luck with waiting. Two and Five could always return, so they had to use the time they had wisely. Four took Three's lips before pressing into his tight heat. It was such a smooth, yet constricting friction. It was metal, but gave the illusion of silk, and both pairs of optics flickered with the words and sounds they couldn't see. Three was ready enough that Four could fully sheath himself without much resistance. He still waited to make sure his twin was comfortable before continuing.

He drug his rod out before pressing it back in. Three shivered and tightened his fingers on the other's shoulders as tingles of pleasure spread along his back. Four nipped at his lips in partial kisses as he quickly began to increase the pace. He clutched to his twins' hips, pressing deep into his trembling heat, and easily ignored the pain in his leg in comparison to the pleasure flourishing through him. Three seemed to notice Four's pain. While he couldn't stop it, he reached upwards and pet his face instead, petting over his fabric cheeks.

The heat was only increasing. Three was starting to breathe much more shakily and his hips were raising to meet his lover's more eagerly. The tightening in his lower abdomen was only increasing further. Every moment, every push further, and then the pleasure raising to a higher peak. It was so close, almost there, and he was just about ready to plummet into this feeling they had created. He couldn't last as long tonight; neither of them could. With a few final, firm, precise, needy thrusts, Three was there.

He couldn't cry out; he could just let his optics illuminate to their brightest, unwavering point. He could only show through light how great this felt, but it was enough. A few flickers of green pulsed along his front as he slowly started coming down. With his tightening around the rod, Four was only able to thrust a few, final times as he too rode to the end. His flashing replaced Three's as he hit the delight of finality, but soon slowed, and finished with them collapsing together. Immediately, the twins cuddled close together under the blankets.

" _Thank you,"_ Three 'whispered' to his twin as he attentively closed his front.

" _You don't have to thank me,"_ Four pointed out with a blush. _"We did this together. Half of this is your doing too."_

" _Not that!"_ Three pointed out with a flicker of giggles. By now, he had a blush as well. _"I meant for saving me… You saved my life."_ He hugged tighter to his twin. They had gotten so close to one of them getting injured. Either of them could've been injured, but Four had risked himself to save him.

" _I would do anything for you. I love you,"_ Four insisted as he affectionately stroked over the scholar's uncovered head. _"You're worth risking my life for."_

" _But I don't want you to have to risk your life!"_ Three protested as he nuzzled into his friend's chin. _"Next time, we stay together please."_

Four gave a playful chime and nodded in agreement. Then, worn by the day and their activities, the twins drifted off to sleep holding each other. Nobody would suspect a thing; they would just assume that Three came in to comfort and show love to his twin.

Which, honestly, was exactly what happened.

 _ **FIN**_

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 **Mable: I've been a little behind on my requests because of the two chaptered fics, but I've still been working on them. There's no excuse for this length of time, but anyone whose waiting for a fic- I haven't forgotten! ^-^ I'm just incredibly slow. So, no worries, I will be trying to get through them a little quicker. I hope everyone enjoyed!**


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